Routledge Looking Forward To Europa League Success

30 August 2013 10:11
Former Toon favourite Wayne Routledge sat on the bench as Swansea rested the stars for the trip to Romania.

But the former Toon winger says: "It's a massive bonus for the club and the supporters. We are all living the dream."

Swansea suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat in Romania but still advanced to the group stages of the Europa League at the expense of Petrolul Ploiesti.

The Welsh club had held a 5-1 lead after their handsome win in the first leg of this play-off tie last week.

The hosts never looked capable of turning the contest on its head but they did take the lead on the night through Njongo Priso's 73rd minute strike.

Substitute Roland Lamah responded instantly, but Hamza Younes headed home the winner for the hosts before Swansea captain Leon Britton was sent off late on.

Michael Laudrup's side can at least look forward to at least another six games in their European adventure, and they will find out their opponents when the group stage draw is made on Friday.

Nordsjaelland, Stuttgart, Partizan Belgrade and Udinese were all big names to exit from the Europa League on Thursday.

FC Nordsjaelland, who made last season's Champions League group stages, suffered a surprise Europa League exit at the hands of Swedish champions Elfsborg.

After a 1-1 draw in Sweden, Nordsjaelland would have been favourites to progress but a single goal from their former striker Mikkel Beckmann gave their opponents a 1-0 win - which was enough to take them through.

Another shock saw Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart go out to Croatian side Rijeka, after a 2-2 draw in Germany meant they went out 4-3 on aggregate. Rijeka progressed after a last-minute goal from Goran Mujanovic.

Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade also went out despite taking a 1-0 advantage into their second-leg with FC Thun - they were hammered 3-0 in Switzerland.

Italians Udinese could not overhaul a 3-1 first leg deficit to Slovan Liberec, as they could only claim a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic.

Fiorentina did manage to make it through, but only just on away goals after losing 1-0 at home to Grasshoppers.

St Etienne bowed out as they lost 5-3 on aggregate after losing 1-0 at home to Danish outfit Esbjerg with the only goal coming from Mustapha Bayal Sall - who put through his own net with 17-minutes left.

Sevilla, the 2006 and 2007 champions, strolled into the next round with a 9-1 aggregate win over Slask Wroclaw after a 5-0 second leg triumph in Poland.

The Spanish club's big rivals rivals Real Betis had an equally comfortable time, as they won 6-0 against Jablonec giving them an 8-1 aggregate win.

Dynamo Kiev eased into the group stages with a comfortable 5-1 win over Kazak outfit Aktobe in the Ukrainian capital.

Likewise Rubin Kazan made light work of their tie with Molde, claiming a 5-0 aggregate success after a 3-0 win in Russia.

There was a shock elsewhere in Russia, however, as Spartak Moscow bowed out at the hands of Swiss side St Gallen. After a 1-1 draw in Switzerland, a 4-2 win for the visitors including two goals from Goran Karanovic - gave the visitors the shock win.

Two time winners Feyenoord went out to Russian side Kuban Krasnodar after going down 2-1 in Rotterdam, going out 3-1 on aggregate.

Zulte-Waregem progressed after a 2-1 win in Cyprus over APOEL Nicosia, which gave them a 3-2 aggregate success - but there was success for one Cypriot side as Apollon went through as Nice could only win 1-0 in France, meaning they go out 2-1 overall.

Moldovan champions FC Sheriff progressed after a 2-1 win over Vojvodina, whilst Turkish giants Besiktas also booked their place in the next round as they won 2-0 in Istanbul against Tromso.

Eintracht Frankfurt, Dnipro, Maccabi Haifa, Rapid Vienna, Trabzonspor, Genk, Standard Liege, Salzburg and Estoril all eased into the group stages after comfortable aggregate wins.

AZ Alkmaar's clash at home to Atromitos was abandoned after a fire broke out at the AFAS Stadion.

The spectators were evacuated after the match was brought to a halt in the 57th minute, with the visitors leading 1-0 to trail 3-2 on aggregate.

Finally only two matches went to extra time, in Braga they went down to Romanian side Pandurii - who scored their winner with just three-minutes of time left through Alexandru Ciucur.

The other match saw Chornomorets win 7-6 against Skenderbeu - who had won 1-0 on the night in Albania.

 

 

Source: Newcastle United Mad

Source: FOOTYMAD